Yoga challenge: Day 1

Ok, so I've decided to do a small scale Bikram Yoga challenge. Normally the challenge is 60 yoga classes in 60 days. I....don't think I can pull that off, mostly due to time.  So I'm going to try for 7 days straight. That's a total of 10.5 hours of workouts in a week. Sure as hell beats the 90 minutes a week I usually do.

I'm not new to Bikram, but I've only been half assing it for a while. 3 or 4 times a month usually, 6 max.

Now, not only is this an exercise for my body, but also of my mind.  The reason I've never really committed myself to it was because of my high anxiety levels. It's a very small, hot, smelly, crowded room, and it sets off my panic attacks.

I've been trying to lessen the amount of Xanax that I take because I can tell that I'm building a tolerance, and I really don't like the idea of getting addicted to it, so I want to use the yoga to help with that.  From what I know of CBT, it's called 'Flooding' and I'm going to use this smelly, crowded room to help me get over a lot of my social fears.

Last night was my first night of the week. I made sure to prep myself properly. Drank loads of water during the day, and even drank some of that nasty coconut water before hand for the potassium. I also took my Xanax a good 2 hours before hand, so I knew it would have kicked in.

Something just clicked with it though, which is why I'm even bothering to write this all down. I didn't focus on going super deep into the poses. I've always done that, always tried to get to where everyone else in the room was at, and I would always end up stressed and some times even hurt myself.

I focused on my breath, had a literal 'Breath In, Breath Out' mantra going on in my head.  When it came to the poses, I only went to the point that I could keep my breath slow. If it got to the point that I would hold my breath, or my breathing would speed up, and would take it back down a notch.

Then, something awesome happened. I did better than I ever had before! Not only could I bend further backwards, I didn't get lightheaded. I could pull myself higher during Cobra. I even did the first half of Camel, which is something I usually sit out.

But what was really important was that I enjoyed myself. I did it without the mental anxiety that I normally get. I felt good. Even on the parts that hurt, I felt good. I felt strong. Hell, after class was over I even stayed in the room and did some extra sit-ups.

So I go again tonight. Very rarely gone two days in a row, so we'll see how it goes. I'm making sure to prep myself again today, and will report in tomorrow!